The Pinball Arcade delayed until 11 July for Europe

Did you notice that the European PlayStation Store was missing The Pinball Arcade for PS3 and Vita? As it turns out, Farsight Studios made an announcement on Facebook informing fans of the unexpected, but welcomed delay.

Its an unfortunate scenario when a developer is persuaded to delay its long awaited and highly praised pinball simulator while North America suffered no such fate. The stateside versions of The Pinball Arcade features four included tables, and add-on content now extends the total number of tables to eight. On top of that, its available for both PS3 and Vita as a cross-purchase.

A Facebook post on The Pinball Arcade’s page reveals the truth of the matter:

We have good news and bad news to report on the release of the Pinball Arcade on Sony platforms in Europe. At the last minute Sony Computer Entertainment Europe approached us with a plan to promote both the PlayStation3 and PS Vita versions if we agreed to delay the PlayStation3 version so that they could come out together.

As if their hands were tied behind their back, they continue by saying:

We really can’t turn down that kind of publicity when a big company like Sony offers it to us, so we consented. The good news is that both the PlayStation 3 version and the PS Vita version are now scheduled for release in Europe on July 11th, and we should get some great publicity that will help introduce many new people to the joys of pinball. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for supporting the Pinball Arcade!

FarSight Studios has had nothing but success on the mobile releases of The Pinball Arcade. Microsoft has been very problematic at times, with issues circling back to Microsoft’s strict submission procedures causing delays. Sony on the other hand has been so supportive, that it has led to this delay.

While FarSight Studios looks to benefit from the delay with gobs of Sony sponsored publicity, its the fans that ultimately lose. Do you see a bright side to this delay?